Defending champion Karnataka started its Ranji Trophy campaign on a rousing note with a 285-run victory over Tamil Nadu in the Group A match that concluded at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday.
Karnataka declared its second innings at 351 for five and Tamil Nadu chasing 368, was bowled out for 82 in 34.3 overs. The emphatic triumph helped Karnataka gain six points while Tamil Nadu drew a blank.
The visitor’s capitulation gained a break-neck speed when ‘Man-of-the-Match’ left-arm seamer S. Arvind (four for 9) claimed a hat-trick in his eighth over, scalping Malolan Rangarajan, L. Balaji and M. Mohammed.
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“I just bowled at the stumps and this is my first hat-trick,” Arvind said.
Tottering at 82 for nine, the visitor didn’t add any more runs as host captain R. Vinay Kumar nailed Vijay Shankar and grabbed a stump as a souvenir and later said: “This win is a good base for the season.”
Batting horrorsADVERTISEMENT
Earlier, from the moment Vinay dismissed Kaushik Gandhi and Abhinav Mukund edged Arvind, Tamil Nadu struggled. Worse was to follow when Dinesh Karthik got run out and Baba Aparajith succumbed to leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal.
The visitor stepped out for lunch at an unappetising score of 32 for four and the batting horrors extended into the afternoon.
In the morning, Karnataka set a scorching pace thanks to a 118-run fifth-wicket partnership between Manish Pandey (56 n.o., 89b, 6x4, 1x6) and Stuart Binny (77, 68b, 6x4, 4x6).
The duo blitzed big shots at will as Pandey greeted Mohammed with a six and Binny’s four massive hits, included a disdainful six off Balaji.
In those frenzied 14 overs, Karnataka plundered 104 runs and Tamil Nadu gasped.
The scores:Karnataka — 1st innings: 290 in 74.2 overs.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 274 in 120.4 overs.
Karnataka — 2nd innings: Robin Uthappa c Baba Aparajith b Malolan Rangarajan 76, Mayank Agarwal run out 80, Kunal Kapoor c Aparajith b J. Kaushik 7, Manish Pandey (not out) 56, Karun Nair b M. Mohammed 35, Stuart Binny c Kaushik Gandhi b Malolan Rangarajan 77; Extras (b-5, lb-3, w-7, nb-5): 20; Total (for five wkts. decl. in 75.5 overs): 351.
Fall of wickets: 1-163, 2-167, 3-174, 4-233, 5-351.
Tamil Nadu bowling: J. Kaushik 17-4-82-1, L. Balaji 14-2-68-0, M. Mohammed 19-3-66-1, Malolan Rangarajan 20.5-2-96-2, Baba Indrajith 3-1-16-0, Baba Aparajith 2-0-15-0.
Tamil Nadu — 2nd innings: Kaushik Gandhi lbw b R. Vinay Kumar 1, Abhinav Mukund c Pandey b S. Arvind 16, Baba Aparajith c Sharath b Shreyas Gopal 13, Dinesh Karthik run out 1, Baba Indrajith lbw b Stuart Binny 12, R. Prasanna c (sub) Samarth b Vinay Kumar 15, Vijay Shankar c Uthappa b Vinay Kumar 8, Malolan Rangarajan c (sub) Abrar Kazi b Arvind 10, L. Balaji lbw b Arvind 0, M. Mohammed b Arvind 0, J. Kaushik (not out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-2): 6; Total (in 34.3 overs): 82.
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-18, 3-23, 4-32, 5-57, 6-59, 7-82, 8-82, 9-82.
Karnataka bowling: R. Vinay Kumar 8.3-3-20-3, S. Arvind 8-3-9-4, H.S. Sharath 8-3-20-0, Shreyas Gopal 5-1-15-1, Stuart Binny 5-2-12-1.
Man-of-the-Match: S. Arvind.